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User
Reviews 9
Approval 95%
Soundoffs 20
Album Ratings 1771
Objectivity 28%
Last Active 06-04-18 11:29 pm
Joined 05-21-14
Review Comments 584
| murakami fanboys unite n stuff
yes he's very repetitive in terms of themes and tropes and yes he's no mishima or oe and yes he's got ramona flowers on the mind all the time but HEY I spent the summer exclusively reading Japanese lit so let's all dance to obscure jazz music and chain smoke | | 1 |  | Chuck Berry
The Best of Chuck Berry
A Wild Sheep Chase: my first book that I picked up on a whim. Upon reflection I don't find it very memorable, but I was very intrigued by the magic realism elements and relatable tone. | | 2 |  | Miles Davis
Sketches of Spain
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: To me this is still his greatest book and one of my personal favorites. Mde me reopen many feelings I had about previous relationships and also about where I was going in life and the context of history with it. | | 3 |  | Frederic Chopin
Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54
Sputnik Sweetheart: Considered one of his lesser works, I can see where people would say that given the short length and the general ease at which it was written. That said, I loved the narrative of Sumire and her beatnikiness (as obnoxious as it was). Plus there was a little bit of variety in protagonist this time. | | 4 |  | Frank Sinatra
My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra
The Elephant Vanishes: I love short stories, and some of these stories really just hit the sweet spot of Murakami calling out society or waddling in fantastical imagery of the soul or just being beautiful (The Silence, The Dancing Dwarf, On Seeing the 100% Girl...) | | 5 |  | The Beatles
Rubber Soul
Norwegian Wood: Fuck this one was sad. Some might find it a plain, barely buildingsroman romp through Japanese higher education, but I like to have it as a reminder that Murakami doesn't need to rely on talking cats or evil curses to create intriguing characters and plots. | | 6 |  | Radiohead
Kid A
Kafka on the Shore: In the process of reading this one. I get the feeling it'll be Wind-Up Bird levels of epic imagery and connecting all the dots and shit but so far I just like it. | | 7 |  | Ornette Coleman
The Shape of Jazz to Come
This Murakami guy is FFO: Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and/or Jonathan Safran Foer | |
J() Alexander
08.20.18 | idk i cant read | WeepingBanana
08.20.18 | Read hardboiled wonderland as my first murakami not too long ago, was cool but my list has just grown to long to get back into him any time soon | Sabrutin
08.20.18 | I was lent a copy of Kafka the past summer. It was my first Murakami book (and still the only one, though I got a couple waiting to be read) and I quite liked it. Very memorable imo, though I didn't love it 100%. One thing that I noticed is that Murakami is, well, very Japanese. Poetic descriptions and a lot of references to classics like Genji Monogatari. I also noticed Murakami's love for music: a character listens to an old vinyl copy of Sgt Pepper and feels like it was different from how he remembered it, which I think is a cool way of saying that Murakami himself prefers the original mono over the stereo mix. | Papa Universe
08.20.18 | I am here to unite. good stuff | zakalwe
08.20.18 | I read Wind Up Bird Chronicle in the 90s loved it but can’t remember a thing about it now other than spaghetti, a cat, a well? and some doppelgänger or summat. | TheCharmingMan
08.20.18 | Yeah all I can really recollect from that book is manskinning and empty wells. And psychosexual wet dreams at times.
@Xenophanes I do find it odd that Yukio Mishima is more talented at developing female characters than Murakami lol | Voivod
08.20.18 | "I used to have a real boner for Murakami which has since waned a bit. His stories and themes really are repetitive"
this.
I have thoroughly enjoyed "Norwegian Wood", I liked "After the Quake" collection of short stories, read his "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" book ( I like running too), didn't blow my mind, I liked "South of the Border, West of the Sun", stopped reading "The Elephant Vanishes" right about in the middle of it, and that's it.
I have "Sputnik Sweetheart" and "After Dark" short story collection in my reading list, but based on impressions from friends of mine who have read nearly all his books (and whose taste I trust), that's all the murakami I'm gonna bother reading in the future. | Sinternet
08.20.18 | literally my all time favourite euthor and 5 is my favourite book ever
i recommend reading his short stories too, especially the After the Quake collection | Sinternet
08.20.18 | also recommend the other murakami (ryu) - piercing is an incredible book if you like psychological thrillers | heyadam
08.20.18 | I fucking love Murakami haha. I had a list about him too at one point --
Weirdly, "Dance, Dance, Dance" has become my favorite novel of his | TheCharmingMan
08.21.18 | Dance Dance Dance is like the hidden gem of his bibliography it seems. And i’ll checc Ryu soon | butcherboy
08.21.18 | blind willow, sleeping woman.. or wind.. or pinball. I can take him better in short stories or novellas.. he runs out of steam quick on longer books, and just collapses into lazy mysticism.. still, the man is his own sort of genius.. | Papa Universe
08.21.18 | 1Q84 was a bit tedious by the end (especially the second book), but there's just that weird, meditative charm to it. there always is. | heyadam
08.21.18 | I was just about to say that Murakami is a meditative experience for me, especially if I'm in a bout of depression/isolation. |
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